Awaken His Eyes | The Awakened Book One

Chapter 12

The passage aboard the prison ship had taken days. How many, Kael wasn't sure. It must have been five or six, but he was never allowed out of his cell. It was now evening. The stars were out as they led him from the docks into a stone fortress in the side of a mountain. There was no hood over his head this time as the Orud soldiers prodded him down a hallway. On both sides were cells. Some were empty, but most contained at least one person huddled in the corner. They quickly left the cells behind and continued down a corridor that seemed to stretch on forever. Kael shuddered at the thought of going so deep into the mountain.

Finally, at the end of the hall were two torches flanking an iron gate. One guard lowered his spear toward Kael's chest, while the other pulled out a knife and grabbed hold of his tunic.

"What are you doing?"

"Shut your mouth!" the guard said.

He began to cut Kael's tunic from his body, while Kael held as still as he could, helpless with his hands tied behind his back. When the tunic was gone, the guard grabbed Kael's loincloth and cut one side, nicking the skin.

Kael flinched, then felt a trickle of blood run down his thigh.

"Hold still!" the guard snapped.

Tears of shame began to roll down his face and he shut his eyes to make them stop. He was completely naked now.

"Go," one soldier ordered, while the other unlocked and opened the gate.

The passage was completely dark, and Kael slowly walked through, fearing what he would find inside. As his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, the harsh sound of the slamming gate behind him rang out among the stone walls and floor, making him jump. He could barely see movement. There were other people in the cell, lots of them. And the cell was big.

Moving to his right, Kael felt for the wall, then slid down and huddled on the floor. He pulled his knees up to his chin and waited. For what, he didn't know. He wasn't about to sleep, so he just stared into the darkness and waited.

~

Hours later, a guard lit torches along a hallway outside the chamber opposite from Kael. With the illumination, Kael could begin to make out the features of his surroundings. It was a circular chamber, a hundred feet across. The only way in or out was the gate that Kael came through, behind and to his left. On the opposite wall were three barred windows showing a view of the hallway outside their cell. It was like a pen used to corral animals, only there were no animals. There were children, dozens of them, all boys like himself. None of them had clothing.

Kael shifted his weight and a fist-sized chunk of rock fell from the wall behind his shoulder. He reached out and grabbed the jagged shard and placed it back in the void it left. Then it gave him an idea. I wonder if there's a way out of this place. Scanning the walls, his eyes settled on the barred windows. He wondered how far apart each bar was and if he might be able to squeeze through.

And Kael wasn't the only one. Just as the thought occurred to him, a boy climbed up into one of the windows and reached his arm through the bars. A small group quickly formed around the boy, cheering him on. He was small, smaller than Kael, but it was obvious that he wouldn't fit through. His shoulder and chest could fit, but the bars were too close together to allow his head to get through.

Kael stood up and started to walk over, then stopped abruptly as he saw something dark sprout from between the boy's shoulder blades. Some in the group let out screams of shock, and scattered like rats. The boy slipped backward off the window ledge, the blade of the spear disappearing through his back again. He landed hard on the stone floor, and his lifeless body lay perfectly still.